katherine hu

The Myth of the Perfect Writer’s Room For aspiring writers, the rooms of literary figures—Virginia Woolf, Maya Angelou, Joan Didion—are talismanic sites. But the quest to find the ideal creative space is often self-defeating, Joshua Rothman writes.

For aspiring writers, the rooms of literary figures—Virginia Woolf, Maya Angelou, Joan Didion—are talismanic sites. But the quest to find the ideal creative space is often self-defeating, Joshua Rothman writes. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/d7BMjI

In an Age of Science, Tennyson Grappled with an Unsettling New World His poetry reckoned with the immensities of reality, time, and grief, confronting a world upended by new truths about the earth and the heavens.

Alfred Tennyson’s poetry reckoned with the immensities of reality, time, and grief, confronting a world upended by new truths about the earth and the heavens. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/yQJZUr

He Was Laid Off at The Washington Post After Working There 60 Years Martin Weil, one of hundreds being let go at The Post, has worked on local news there since 1965, witnessing the paper’s rise and now retrenchment.

Martin Weil, one of hundreds of journalists being let go at The Washington Post, has worked on local news there since 1965.

Did a Celebrated Researcher Obscure a Baby’s Poisoning? After a newborn died of opioid poisoning, a new branch of pediatrics came into being. But the evidence doesn’t add up.

Dr. Gideon Koren was one of Canada’s leading pediatricians and toxicologists—but some of his work was revealed to be deeply flawed. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/CqEdlt

The cover of this week’s issue, “New York’s Toughest,” by Peter de Sève. Start exploring: newyorkermag.visitlink.me/qARBiP

Witnessing Another Public Killing in Minneapolis Videos of Alex Pretti’s fatal shooting, rapidly disseminated on social media, reveal a brazen display of brute power.

“The existence of so many real and unvarnished images of [Alex] Pretti’s killing posed a problem that Trump’s underlings have tried to patch up with words,” Vinson Cunningham writes. www.newyorker.com/culture/on-t...

Do Your Parents Have a Screen-Time Problem? The phone-based retirement is here.

“A version of the problem exists on the opposite side of the age spectrum, too: instead of a phone-based childhood, a phone-based retirement.”

@cwarzel.bsky.social’s great piece in The Atlantic

Theft A poem

“My parents looked so old / and small next to them. Whose life was this size? / Up close, the gold paint was scotched and chipping.”

Read a new poem by Drew Rollins:

Postcolonial Chicken The U.S. introduced fast food to the Philippines. Now Jollibee is serving it back to America.

Jollibee began as a response to demand for American fast food in a postcolonial Philippines. Now, the chain has designs on becoming one of the top restaurant companies in the world—and is reshaping the American palate, Yasmin Tayag reports:

We Let AI Run Our Office Vending Machine. It Lost Hundreds of Dollars. An AI agent ran a snack operation in the WSJ newsroom. It gave away a free PlayStation, ordered a live fish—and taught us lessons about the future of AI.

Gift link, probably the funniest thing the Wall Street Journal has done this year.

2 Students at Brown Witnessed School Shootings as Children

School shootings now common enough that two students at Brown yesterday had experienced one before

Inside a Flame A poem

“I uncover / orange embers, carry them / to a covered grill, and, glancing up, / see the stars’ braille / against the night’s black page.”

Read a new poem by Arthur Sze:

Recall A poem

“You will never tell me, / even if I could close / the broken skin of heaven / with my mouth.”

Read a new poem by Imogen Cassels:

Recall A poem

Imogen Cassels' poetry is a real delight:

www.theatlantic.com/books/2025/1...

The Atlantic’s editors pick their favorite books of the year—10 titles that distinguish themselves as worth reading and remembering. See the full list: theatln.tc/gaJVrZ7O

‘AI Psychosis’ Is a Medical Mystery Researchers are scrambling to figure out why chatbots appear to lead some people to delusional thinking.

Amidst more and more cases of "AI psychosis," I talked to psychiatrists to figure out we do—and more importantly don't—know about how chatbots may be producing or exacerbating severe psychological distress.

www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

The Eloquence A poem by Jorie Graham

Thank you @theatlantic.com
--editors,staff & journalists. Amazing to work with.

This poem is actually for you.

( turn phone or tablet sideways to restore lines)

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

What’s the Point of School Photos Anymore? The portraits are kitschy and expensive—but parents can’t seem to stop buying them.

School photos are kitschy and expensive—but parents can’t seem to stop buying them. Annie Midori Atherton on the portrait’s enduring appeal:

You ever think the guy with the Tiny Desk just wants to get back to work?

This Beautiful Confusion A poem

“Let me / be more bound to my living in each moment, be held / by this hum, that cloud, this breath, that shroud.”

Read a new poem by Traci Brimhall:

This Beautiful Confusion A poem

“Let me / be more bound to my living in each moment, be held / by this hum, that cloud, this breath, that shroud.”

Read a new poem by Traci Brimhall:

Guess what? Time to preorder this book! Killing Spree.

@fsgbooks.bsky.social thank you for agreeing to this beautiful cover...❤️❤️🙏

Women Keep Ruining the Workplace!! Before they arrived, of course, everything was perfect.

Before women, the workplace was perfect. It was full of trees. There was no need to labor with your hands. You didn’t have to wear pants, or any form of clothes. Every kind of animal was there.

Hmm I may be thinking of something else women supposedly ruined www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

Ruth Asawa’s Art of Defiant Hospitality A retrospective at MOMA puts forth a persuasive case for an artist who saw making her work and living with others as inextricably entwined.

A retrospective at MOMA puts forth a persuasive case for Ruth Asawa, an artist who saw making her work and living with others as inextricably entwined. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/11/24/ruth-asawas-art-of-defiant-hospitality

What Did Men Do to Deserve This? Changes in the economy and in the culture seem to have hit them hard. Scott Galloway believes they need an “aspirational vision of masculinity.”

It’s become conventional wisdom that America’s young men are in crisis. The reality is more complicated than that. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/what-did-men-do-to-deserve-this?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dhtwitter&utm_content=null

‘My Premium Will Go From $350 to $2,780 a Month’ Five people facing increasing health-care costs share their frustrations with Democrats for caving on a deal to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

Five people facing increasing health-care costs share their frustrations with Democrats for caving on a deal to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

spoke with the executive director of my local food bank today and got this really incredible line: "if you donate 1 can of green beans, we can give away 1 can of green beans. but if you donate a dollar, we can give away 6 cans of green beans"

Love Song Set to a Tune of Gathering A poem

“Aphids toiled brittle stems as we met the dike / to rob snakehead limbs of their fruit. I gathered / persimmons, podgy maypops.”

Read a new poem by Carson Colenbaugh:

The Mamdani Era Begins His opponents tried to smear him for his youth, inexperience, and leftist politics. But New Yorkers didn’t want a hardened political insider to be mayor—they wanted Zohran Mamdani.

In the end, Andrew Cuomo’s long record was a gift to Zohran Mamdani. “What I don’t have in experience, I make up for in integrity—and what you don’t have in integrity, you could never make up for in experience,” Mamdani told Cuomo in a debate.

Trump Rule Could Ban Some Public Servants From Student Loan Forgiveness A new rule could disqualify certain employers from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program that are deemed to be engaged in “illegal activities.”

The Trump administration released a final rule on Thursday that restricted who could participate in a student loan forgiveness program for public servants. Critics say the new rule gives the government broad tools to politicize the program and target groups that do not align with its values.